Denture wearing and oral cancer.

Four hundred patients with oral cancer were studied to determine if there appeared to be a risk related to denture wearing. Forty-three percent of the group wore dentures, and there seemed to be no correlation between the wearing of dentures and any specific cancer site. Furthermore, there was no difference between denture and nondenture wearers relative to age, sex, time from first signs or symptoms to diagnosis, tumor stage, or tobacco use. In addition, a large number of individuals in the general population wear dentures, and carcinomas occur infrequently in denture-bearing sites. Other studies have shown no difference between denture wearers and control groups in the occurrence of oral cancer. Therefore, it does not seem plausable at this time to consider denture irritation as a significant carcinogenic aggravating factor.